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NOTHING! What is someone trying to sell you???
Edited after reading last post: Are you referring to having a secure site so as to do transactions on line? If that is the case, you are not a store. You don't need to have a secure server. If you use a company like REZOVATIONS or Webervations to take credit card information, that is the company that has to provide the secure site...not you.
 
I did the website myself. It is hosted by inmotion on their servers. If needed, they have a secure checkout etc., although I do not use it. No issues with security so far.
BBBBob
 
No this is for my site. My web designer says I need it. You know, for hackers.
 
No this is for my site. My web designer says I need it. You know, for hackers..
WHAT? I have never heard of the "average" person's web site needing to pay to prevent hackers.
What is someone going to hack on your website???? You aren't a company with lots of employees accessing site and information. You aren't selling anything on line. You don't have password protection scripts. Do you have scripts running ? What information on the site do you need to protect?
What would they do??? All legitmates hosting companies provide security for the sites they host.
Do you have anti virus protection and firewall on your computer?
Aren't you the one using Drupal? Which I don't think is the way to go anyway for a web site. I would guess you would need to stay current on the updates from Drupal.
I think SWIRT will check in on this and reply as well. But I don't get it at all.
Does anyone else here pay extra for security for their web site????
 
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?
 
In general you don't need to pay security....however, if you are using a hosted package like Drupal (which your current site uses) you do need someone to perform the security updates. Unlike Wordpress, keeping things up to date on Drupal is a bit more involved. The reality is though once installed you could likely get by for years with that install as long as you weren't allowing comments or people to sign up for their own accounts. Make sure you have a backup of your database and you pretty safe...if someone hacked the site, you simply re-install the software and upload the database backup and the site is ready to go again.
 
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?.
See..you did not state that clearly... You are talking about different things here.
Yes, you need to pay your yearly hosting fees. That is to host your site and all that it includes.
Go Daddy.com yes is a internet hosting company. Did you sign up for it yourself? Do you own your own domain? Or did your webmaster set it all up under her name??? It should be under you and you should be the contact so that you will get the payment invoice notice. DIdn't you pay the hosting fee when you set it up? Did you get your URL / domain name from them directly? You need control of your domain.
I learned this the hard way. I bought my own domain, paid the invoices when due etc. When I went with a different hosting company, she told me they would take care of the domain renewals each year...well...guess what...didn't happen...I didn't renew it this year because I thought she had done it...nope...they had my old email so I never got the notice, she never transferred it...so bottom line. I lost my website! I tried to buy it at auction, but got to it to late. No one else bought it but now I can't even get to it. So it is gone.
 
Is Drupal used by BIG companies like Disney? How is the average person suppose to know all this? I going nuts. Hey I suck at computers but boy are my people skills top notch! Also how long does it take for the average B&B website to be developed? I first contacted her April 29 and you see what I have todate. Thanks again.
 
Is Drupal used by BIG companies like Disney? How is the average person suppose to know all this? I going nuts. Hey I suck at computers but boy are my people skills top notch! Also how long does it take for the average B&B website to be developed? I first contacted her April 29 and you see what I have todate. Thanks again..
Let me ask an indelicate question...how much money do you have sunk into the website at this point?
 
Is Drupal used by BIG companies like Disney? How is the average person suppose to know all this? I going nuts. Hey I suck at computers but boy are my people skills top notch! Also how long does it take for the average B&B website to be developed? I first contacted her April 29 and you see what I have todate. Thanks again..
I don't think I would compare Disney to your site:-(
I don't know what they use, but just looked at it and it doesn't look it to me. They have millions to spend on a website, I doubt they would use open source stuff.
Here is where it is being used..in community part of the site.
If people provide me with approriate photos and text and agree on the design I have given them...if it is a small site...I can have it done in a few days. From April to Sept..and this is all you have????? I would be finding a new web designer..sorry.
Did she choose this route to go so that YOU can edit the pages yourself since it is a blog format? I suspect this would be a good reason why this was chosen then.
Did you spend time looking at other B & B websites? That is what I tell my clients. Find some sites you like and show them to me. Tell me what you like about them and what you don't like. We then discuss colors, styles, font types, photos and the pages needed.
Wish I could help you but I am not taking on new clients as I am getting ready to have shoulder surgery so will be out of commission for a good long while.
 
Is Drupal used by BIG companies like Disney? How is the average person suppose to know all this? I going nuts. Hey I suck at computers but boy are my people skills top notch! Also how long does it take for the average B&B website to be developed? I first contacted her April 29 and you see what I have todate. Thanks again..
MTLLodge said:
Is Drupal used by BIG companies like Disney? How is the average person suppose to know all this? I going nuts. Hey I suck at computers but boy are my people skills top notch! Also how long does it take for the average B&B website to be developed? I first contacted her April 29 and you see what I have todate. Thanks again.
Drupal is a content managment system that can be used for many different things. And can run some very large professional sites (I don't think Disney is one of them)
The average person is not supposed to know it.
Timing is up to the contract you had with your designer. Did the contract specify a time frame? A week is fast. Typically the development of a B&B site can take several months due to delays in delivery of content or photos or decisions on color schemes. 4 months from first contact is not outrageous (not fast...but not outrageous) but much of that depends on what the arrangement was. You contacted her on April29th...but was that the day the contract was settled? Was that the day she said she would start work? Was that the day you delivered everything you needed to provide?
 
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?.
MTLLodge said:
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?
As Catlady said, "having GoDaddy" can mean several things.
  1. It may mean only that they are your registrar, meaning you registered your web address (domain name) through Go Daddy.
  2. It may mean you are paying for hosting which would not include updating Drupal as new security updates are released.
  3. It may mean both 1 and 2 and using GoDaddy to manage Drupal which would task GoDaddy with keeping Drupal updated but in the process makes it so that you have fewer options at your disposal as some things are out of your designer's control because GoDaddy is managing the Drupal install.
For what little has been created so far, and assuming you are looking for a "basic" B&B site that does not require all of the additional functionality that Drupal is capable of, it may be less of a headache, if you are firing your current designer, to have the next person start over and not use drupal. There is not enough already created (of value) that would tie you to the extra trouble of finding someone that knows drupal well enough to make it work for you.
 
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?.
MTLLodge said:
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?
As Catlady said, "having GoDaddy" can mean several things.
  1. It may mean only that they are your registrar, meaning you registered your web address (domain name) through Go Daddy.
  2. It may mean you are paying for hosting which would not include updating Drupal as new security updates are released.
  3. It may mean both 1 and 2 and using GoDaddy to manage Drupal which would task GoDaddy with keeping Drupal updated but in the process makes it so that you have fewer options at your disposal as some things are out of your designer's control because GoDaddy is managing the Drupal install.
For what little has been created so far, and assuming you are looking for a "basic" B&B site that does not require all of the additional functionality that Drupal is capable of, it may be less of a headache, if you are firing your current designer, to have the next person start over and not use drupal. There is not enough already created (of value) that would tie you to the extra trouble of finding someone that knows drupal well enough to make it work for you.
.
Swirt,
I know when I had my site designed last time, I gave a deposit, signed a contract and had a lot of input with the designer. I was very happy when it was finished, but it did take a lot of input from me and my vision was difficult to communicate just in e-mails. I know I paid more because I was shown a page, then I wanted changes and every change took more time and hence, more money. hypothetically, if I had been very unhappy with a design or lack thereof and felt like I wasn't going to like the end result, would that be enough to break a contract? Would I lose my deposit? What happens when you fire a designer midstream?
My situation worked out well, but I'm sure there are many new innkeepers out there who aren't very versed in website design and don't know how to approach this very important aspect of their business.
 
Thank you so much. I have learned alot and I hope someone who is looking to have a website done reads all this and can avoid the mess I have. There is nor never was a contract. You know whats funny when she did something I really liked she would change it. There's you sign! Here's to some of the best people inn the world
cheers.gif
 
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?.
MTLLodge said:
This is how she states it " yearly fee for hosting " I do have Go dad, isn't that my host?
As Catlady said, "having GoDaddy" can mean several things.
  1. It may mean only that they are your registrar, meaning you registered your web address (domain name) through Go Daddy.
  2. It may mean you are paying for hosting which would not include updating Drupal as new security updates are released.
  3. It may mean both 1 and 2 and using GoDaddy to manage Drupal which would task GoDaddy with keeping Drupal updated but in the process makes it so that you have fewer options at your disposal as some things are out of your designer's control because GoDaddy is managing the Drupal install.
For what little has been created so far, and assuming you are looking for a "basic" B&B site that does not require all of the additional functionality that Drupal is capable of, it may be less of a headache, if you are firing your current designer, to have the next person start over and not use drupal. There is not enough already created (of value) that would tie you to the extra trouble of finding someone that knows drupal well enough to make it work for you.
.
Swirt,
I know when I had my site designed last time, I gave a deposit, signed a contract and had a lot of input with the designer. I was very happy when it was finished, but it did take a lot of input from me and my vision was difficult to communicate just in e-mails. I know I paid more because I was shown a page, then I wanted changes and every change took more time and hence, more money. hypothetically, if I had been very unhappy with a design or lack thereof and felt like I wasn't going to like the end result, would that be enough to break a contract? Would I lose my deposit? What happens when you fire a designer midstream?
My situation worked out well, but I'm sure there are many new innkeepers out there who aren't very versed in website design and don't know how to approach this very important aspect of their business.
.
every change took more time and hence, more money. hypothetically, if I had been very unhappy with a design or lack thereof and felt like I wasn't going to like the end result, would that be enough to break a contract? Would I lose my deposit? What happens when you fire a designer midstream?
I think that is a good question that not enough people ask upfront. I would say the answer will vary completely from designer to designer and will also depend on the wording of the contract.
Example: My contracts are all based on an estimate and the estimate is based on time. I try to overestimate the time it will take and then only bill for the time that was actually put in. So if things went ultra smoothly and with not a lot of changes or extra length communication and I finished in less time than I estimated, then they pay only what I put in. If I went over on my time, then they only pay the estimate, as long as there were no changes to the scope of the contract. This method puts pressure on me to overestimate the cost, (which I am sure scares some people away) but I would rather have it that way. In my contracts I specify the number of pages I am building and the number of images (photos) I am working with. That way there are no surprises. If I know they are using a pro photographer, I often put less in my estimate for photo processing....If I know they want to save money and try taking the photos themselves first then I add extra time in to my estimate because bad photos take longer to clean-up than good photos.... I also know I will be looking at a lot of photos and suggesting they re-shoot them.
In my case I ask for half the value of the estimate as payment before I start work. If they break the contract mid-way through I again charge only for what time I have put into it. Granted, I have never had anyone break the contract based on not liking what was done. The only broken contracts I have had are more like "stalled" contracts due to someone not getting the B&B up an running or changing their mind about running a B&B.
Like you describe, I work a mockup of the site first in a drawing package to get the specific appearance narrowed down. I usually do two or three mockups for them to choose from and then one of them gets tweaked based on their input to become the "final" design.
These are pretty early in the process so if after seeing a few mockups they decided they wanted to go elsewhere I probably wouldn't give a full refund, but I certainly wouldn't expect the full payment.
I think the problem that MTLLodge ran into was that she didn't see a mockup of the site before the person started building it. Without a contract it is really hard to say what is fair. I don't know of many professional web designers who work without a contract. I have done sites for friends or family without a contract...and even that has resulted in a few learning experiences for me and I have regretted that I didn't have a contract even with familly. The contract helps define both the expectations and outcomes. Without those defined there is simply too much room for unhappy results on both sides of the agreement.
If they did work processing photos or graphic development and you do end up paying for the work done (even if only partially), make sure you get the source files for that work so that you can hand them off to your new designer.
 
The contract helps define both the expectations and outcomes. Without those defined there is simply too much room for unhappy results on both sides of the agreement.
I NEVER thought about a contract, that is the differance between a professional and just somebody who does it as a hobby
My biggest problem was not seeing the web page going forward. There was no mock ups. It was when I felt the website was going "backwards" that I was done with it.
Now I see why the town doesn't use her for their website! There's your sign!
When she wanted final payment before it was done "to get it off the books" Then less then 2 weeks later sent me a bill in the mail with a $5 late charge! If I would of payed it then any changes would of been an additional charge! There's your sign
Look at the rooms page, she just throw that up there to say the room page is done??? She never asked me what I wanted, if I liked it NOTHING...... There's you sign!
These are just some of the things that were not right.
 
The contract helps define both the expectations and outcomes. Without those defined there is simply too much room for unhappy results on both sides of the agreement.
I NEVER thought about a contract, that is the differance between a professional and just somebody who does it as a hobby
My biggest problem was not seeing the web page going forward. There was no mock ups. It was when I felt the website was going "backwards" that I was done with it.
Now I see why the town doesn't use her for their website! There's your sign!
When she wanted final payment before it was done "to get it off the books" Then less then 2 weeks later sent me a bill in the mail with a $5 late charge! If I would of payed it then any changes would of been an additional charge! There's your sign
Look at the rooms page, she just throw that up there to say the room page is done??? She never asked me what I wanted, if I liked it NOTHING...... There's you sign!
These are just some of the things that were not right..
Sorry, those are some hard lessons you learned, but you did learn them and I am sure will never make any of those mistakes again.
My suggestion to anyone is to not pay the final bill until YOU say the site is done. With the possible exception being if you expanded your idea of "done" to be out of scope with the original contract. Those should always be done as an adendum to the contract or a new contract.
 
Just think how many other things could of gone wrong if I didn't come here and read everthing there was. I may not know everthing but I'm not stupid!
I can not thank you all enough for being honest and open here. Keep smiling
teeth_smile.gif
 
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