Many folks who initially set up a web site rely on the web designer to register their domain and to acquire hosting. I have seen time after time when later the customer wants to make a change or delve into a dynamically driven site,  their web “designer” has no knowledge of getting involved in dynamic content and databases. This forces the customer to seek skills of someone who is more techinically inclined and the web “designer” feels put out.

Some of these “designers” deserve the title because they can take a bland site and make it pretty, if they know the ins and outs of CSS.

On the other hand, there are technical folks who can put together functionality, they may often lack the ability to make your site pretty.

It is therefore very important that your web ” designer” and the technical person can work together as your site’s functionality is enhanced. Your web designer should know CSS well enough to be able to make the dynamic content match the colors and style of the rest of your site.

When we embark on dynamic content and lookiing for a set of skills beyond that of the person that initially set up the web site, is often when we find out as well that a customer that has paid for hosting is not really getting what they have paid for like cpanel access, because the web designer has decided to host multiple accounts in that same web space.

Recently, I asked a web “designer” that I know about the customers Cpanel access and I received a reply of the “F” word. She felt put out or retired, when she should have instead recognized the opportunity and realized that she would be the one making the site look consistent, and in the end it would make more work for her.

Often times these situations result in some animosity between the designer and the client, and sometimes between the designer and technician . The client may feel thay have not gotten what they paid for because the designer is hosting their site in a manner in which they have no access to Cpanel, and this may well be true. Also the designer believes they are being brushed aside when the client wants login information, and in some cases the web “designer” has little or no knowledge of the use of Cpanel nor creating databases nor PHP.

Here are some guidelines to follow when embarking on any web project which may help you to avoid a bad situation:

1) ALWAYS register the domain yourself. This will ensure the registration is made in your own name, with your own credit card. The holder of the card is ultimately the one who owns the domain

2) ALWAYS pay for your own web hosting, with your own credit card. The holder of the card is ultimately the one who owns the domain.

3) If your web “designer” or technician sees it necessary to change any password, you should be notified IMMEDIATELY of any such change, in writing.

4) NEVER allow another person to register the domain “for you” , nor to acquire hosting on your behalf. Never put a middleman between you and your domain, nor your hosting.

5) Cpanel hosting allows easy installation of various server features, programs and functionality in seconds. Look for Cpanel hosting, and ensure you get your Cpanel log in. If you buy from a reseller or your web “designer” ,  make sure your account is not subject to the whim of that “designer” who may feel put out if you seek someone to work on your web site with a different skill set.

following these few simple guidelines will help to avoid problems. Also make sure that to your people can work together as technician and artist to create a beautifukl web site that functions to perfection.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 4:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.