Where can I hire a Dreamweaver website builder?

Report · May 25, 2017

I am a long time Dreamweaver user and designed/ built my own website for our company a long time ago... but I am very slow and inefficient at it. We are now redesigning and building the site since it shows its age and unprofessional origin. I have a designer chosen and am currently working on the overall look of the homepage (and a few others), but I would like to hire someone else to build it for me. I would then be able to take over after completion, and as we move forward, I can make adjustments using my own SW (Dreamweaver CS5 Version 11). Do you guys know where I can go to post this request?

[Moderator moved from The Lounge to Dreamweaver support forum.]

Report · May 25, 2017

What's your budget?
How many pages do you need built?
What functionality do you require for your new site -- forms, log-ins, e-commerce, blog, etc....?
Is your "designer" skilled with modern responsive web design practices & SVG images?
How code literate are you with HTML5, CSS, Javascript, etc...?
Which server-side languages does your hosting plan support?

Keep in mind that legacy CS5 is not capable of supporting modern web technologies & advanced CSS very well. It's too old. Unless you can work with code, you may be in for a real shock when you see how your new site looks in Design View.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Report · May 26, 2017

I have to agree with Nancy about using CS5 and working in code view. Have you considered just moving towards a CMS? You could go out and hire a developer to install a CMS on your web server and then you can just go in and edit content. The template would remain in the code if you really wanted to download it and edit it from the server, but for the most part, you would have access to the content through your browser to edit in a semi-WYSIWYG interface and then you wouldn't even need to worry about what version of DW you have or uploading/download or worrying about understanding the template if they don't render well in your older editor.

Report · May 26, 2017

Thank you both for your input! They have already helped me in my thought process.

I am happy with the simplicity of our current website. It is geared toward engineers and they dont always require lots of bells and whistles... "just the facts." I just hate the antiquated look of it. Maybe I can just update graphics and achieve what I want, but maybe I do need to add some newer web technologies to achieve a more modern visitor experience. I just dont know.

Our website (mctcameras.com) has been around for a long time and I am embarrassed to say that it was built over 10 years ago. In our industry and company size we rank very high with the search engines so I am hesitant to change because I hate to mess up a good thing. We pay Google (adwords, submittals, etc) and Yahoo very little. I think the simplicity of it (less graphics, more wording, etc) might be helping us, but I dont claim to know the voodoo that goes into a ranking.

Some quick answers to your questions:

Budget? As little as possible (ha!), but I expect to pay $7k to $10k total (design and build).
How many pages do you need built? Aproximately 30 pages in the beginning, but I will need to add more soon (which is why I would like to be able to manage)
What functionality do you require for your new site -- forms, log-ins, e-commerce, blog, etc....? Would like one "Contact Us" form which will be tied to Salesforce in a "Web to Lead" format. I think I can create this if needed. Will have a page which links to dozens of Youtube Videos. E-Commerce is not needed at this time, but I would like that option moving forward.
Is your "designer" skilled with modern responsive web design practices & SVG images? I dont know how skilled they are since I have note really chosen them yet. I am using designcontest.com to pick the right look and feel and am hoping that after I have the overall look correct, I can then pass that on to a builder and ask them to please "make it work." Am I over-simplifying that process?
How code literate are you with HTML5, CSS, Javascript, etc...? I am ignorant of them all. One of the nice things I liked about Dreamweaver is that I could basically cut and paste and edit visually. It was very simple.
Which server-side languages does your hosting plan support? Earthlink hosts our website and they told me that they support almost everything (html, Joomla etc.), but if there is something specific that I wish to build around, it might be best to confirm with them first.

Does this help? Thank you so much for taking the time to pass on your thoughts. Your generosity to a stranger is greatly appreciated!

Report · May 26, 2017

IMO, you're going to find it very difficult to keep using DW CS5's Design View. Way too much has changed in 10 years. As an example, this fairly basic responsive layout:

Try pasting this code into a new, blank document. Can you work with this? And more importantly, do you understand any of it?

<!doctype html>

<head>

<title>Bootstrap 3.3.7 Starter</title>

<style>

body {

padding-top: 38px;

font-size: 125%

}

.center-block { float: none }

.jumbotron {

background: url(http://lorempixel.com/1200/400/abstract/7) no-repeat center center;

background-size: cover;

color: antiquewhite;

}

</style>

</head>

<body>

</button>

<a class="navbar-brand" href="Index.html">WebSiteName</a> </div>

</ul>

<li class="dropdown"><a class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" href="#">Dropdown 1 <span class="caret"></span></a>

<li><a href="#">submenu 1-1</a></li>

<li><a href="#">submenu 1-2</a></li>

<li><a href="#">submenu 1-3</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="dropdown"><a class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" href="#">Dropdown 2 <span class="caret"></span></a>

<li><a href="#">submenu 2-1</a></li>

<li><a href="#">submenu 2-2</a></li>

<li><a href="#">submenu 2-3</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

//Enter domain of site to search.

var domainroot="mctcameras.com"

function Gsitesearch(curobj){ curobj.q.value="site:"+domainroot+" "+curobj.qfront.value }

</script>

</span> </div>

</form>

</ul>

</div>

</nav>

<h1>Our Awesome Website</h1>

<h2>Some Pithy Slogan</h2>

</div>

</header>

<h3 class="text-center">Heading 3</h3>

</div>

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris vitae libero lacus, vel hendrerit nisi! </p>

<button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-primary center-block" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#myModal1">CLICK HERE!</button>

</figcaption>

</figure>

</div>

<h3 class="text-center">Heading 3</h3>

</div>

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris vitae libero lacus, vel hendrerit nisi! </p>

<button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-primary center-block" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#myModal2">DETAILS</button>

</figcaption>

</figure>

</div>

<h3 class="text-center">Heading 3</h3>

</div>

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris vitae libero lacus, vel hendrerit nisi! </p>

<button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-primary center-block" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#myModal3">DETAILS</button>

</figcaption>

</figure>

</div>

<h3 class="text-center">Heading 3</h3>

</div>

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris vitae libero lacus, vel hendrerit nisi! </p>

<button type="button" class="btn btn-sm btn-primary center-block" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#myModal4">DETAILS</button>

</figcaption>

</figure>

</div>

</div>

<div class="pull-left">Heading 3</div>

</h3>

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris vitae libero lacus, vel hendrerit nisi! Maecenas quis velit nisl, volutpat viverra felis. Vestibulum luctus mauris sed sem dapibus luctus. Pellentesque aliquet aliquet ligula, et sagittis justo auctor varius. Quisque varius scelerisque nunc eget rhoncus. Aenean tristique enim ut ante dignissim. </p>

</div>

<div class="pull-left"><small>Modal Footer</small></div>

<button class="btn-sm close" type="button" data-dismiss="modal">Close</button>

</div>

</div>

</div>

</div>

</div>

</section>

<hr>

<div class="text-center"> Footer goes here... </div>

</footer>

</section>

</script>

</body>

</html>

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Report · May 30, 2017

Not that it really matters, but I did upgrade my version in 2010 so it is still majorly outdated, just not over 10 years. Your point is still well taken though.

I did cut and paste the code and it renders perfectly. I can work with it easily (change wording, etc), but I certainly don't understand it. But I never understood the code before and only used the design view. My problem would be working in this design view since it looks a little different than when it is published/ previewed in browser. In your example the 4 headings are supposed to be horizontal and in my DW design view, they are stacked vertically... until I preview in browser. As long as I know this, I can work with it. If someone were to build an entire site for me, I could probably duplicate pages and adjust the wording to fit, but if I had to add a totally new page with a different look, I would be stuck or at least highly inefficient in creating it.

Does my slightly newer version of DW help the situation at all?

Report · May 30, 2017

If you can't work with code, I don't think DW is the right fit for you -- no matter which version you use.

Ben's suggestion of hiring someone to build you a content management system (CMS) is a better long term solution.

There are several open source CMS frameworks: WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal to name 3.
Adobe Business Catalyst is another option to look at. BC is an all in one business platform which includes web hosting on BC's servers. The online CMS makes it easy to maintain your web site without coding skills. BC won't work on Earthlink servers, however. You would need to change hosts.
A custom CMS would be another more costly option to consider but might serve your needs better than a packaged framework.

You need to decide, in consultation with an experienced web developer, which features & functionality your site requires now and well into the future. Ideally, you need a user-friendly site you can work with that can grow as your needs grow.

Nancy

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Report · May 30, 2017

I might agree with you that DW is not the right product for someone who doesn't know code... but it is the platform that I am most comfortable with. I certainly don't know it to the level that you do (or most in this forum), but I have been building and editing 100's of pages with it for 10+ years now. Most of those pages are from scratch and all were done using design view (dummy view). I am very, very happy with DW and I would like to continue using it if at all possible. I just want someone to spend the time building the thing for me so that I can edit and add to it later.

If you guys are telling me that I flat out cant do it, then I will start investigating other options (like those you suggested). But if I can use it the same way I have been using it (design view), albeit not ideal, I would like to continue down that path and find a builder who will work with me. If the latter is still in play, then my question would still be "where can I go to post a request for a builder?"

Thanks for any patience you all can extend to me now. It's obvious that I know only enough to be dangerous. DW seems straight forward and easy for me to work with, but "ignorance is bliss." Ha!

Report · May 31, 2017

Shall I re-post my question? I am afraid it may have been lost in the viability of DW discussion. Rephrased my question is: "Where can I hire a DW website builder?" Behind that question is: Can I post my request somewhere in a forum? Which one?

It's possible that my questions are not interesting in this forum. I would like to know if that is the case so I don't keep re-posting them. Thanks for any thoughts!

Report · May 31, 2017

Trying to hire someone to rebuild a web site, no matter what type it is, is not something that is best handled via a forum.

You may be lucky and find someone willing to take on such a project, but that would depend on a forum viewer or member seeing your post, that person currently having the time available, and most importantly, the person wanting the actual work,

Most web design and development forums now, are in slow, (some faster than others) decline as other media for 'answering questions' become more popular. Then there is the problem of just what you require, as it sound, (reads) like this will be an on-going project without a specific time frame, which is also something that will make anyone think twice, even if they are interested.

Unfortunately I cannot recommend any specific forum, or approach you should take to find a developer that would not involve some risk both to yourself or the developer. You could try looking at developers in your local area, asking friends or business associates for recommendations, and of course there is the ultimate risk method of doing a google search for someone.

Report · May 31, 2017

pziecina,

Thank you for your thoughts! I was just hoping that there would be a group of people in this community looking for work or at least know someone in need. There was a time when it seemed like all web developers wanted work, but I think I am dating myself. I still get an email every day from someone different asking to build my site... but that scares me. In my sheltered world, I thought I would eventually come to a site where DW builders gathered, and I would post my job, they would reply, I would research their portfolio, and then I could pick. I did this very thing 10 years ago, but it sounds like times have changed.

Thanks so much for everyone's help. I have other routes to pursue (although limited) and it sounds like that is what you guys are recommending. In short, stay away from the internet and search local. Ugggh. Finding a developer who uses DW locally is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Thanks again!

Report · May 31, 2017

650nmWolf wrote
Finding a developer who uses DW locally is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

That is going to be the most difficult problem for you, as Dw is not the most popular web development program outside of dedicated Dw supporters, and even then many use other programs if they are doing anything with custom server-side and databases, or including more than basic javascript on the client side.

10 years ago there was no such thing as responsive web design, so everyone only thought about desktops, (many still do). As an example, if I was to take on the project I would now use css grid layouts as the main layout code, with items inside each grid done using css flexbox, but css grid layouts has no support in Dw, and flexbox has very bad support in my opinion.

That would mean for you, that you would be unable to edit or change anything.

Report · May 31, 2017

Web design & development is a set of skills. It's not about any one tool or technology. In the end it's all about the code, the method -- static or database driven, and the frameworks we use -- Bootstrap, Foundation, Flexbox, WordPress, etc...

Editing static pages in DW Design View falls within your comfort zone. I fully get that. But making that your primary focus is impractical for the developer. Why? Because this is 2017. You want somebody to build you a great modern website AND facilitate a way for you to keep using a 10 year old approach in an outdated Design View with legacy CS5 and no coding skills to speak of.

Working around Design View limitations are the least of the challenges. I could simply tell you to disable CSS and work with plain, un-styled pages. But as soon as I introduce server-side & client-side technologies which are essential for a site this large, you will be completely lost and I dare say very unhappy with what you see in Design View. Add to that the uncertainty of letting an unskilled coder have access to all that complex code and this quickly becomes a train wreck waiting to happen. What will you do when things go wrong? You can't work with the code.

The reality is you can't keep doing business as usual. What you want is not in line with what you need. Forget about hiring a Dreamweaver person. Focus less on the tool and more on the project. You'll get a lot more interested people that way.

PS. You can post jobs on Adobe Behance

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Where can I hire a Dreamweaver website builder?

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