Paying people to code my website. Where to go?

moneymultiplier1990

Has anyone used websites like `elance(dot)com' and `rentacoder(dot)com' to outsource website coding/design? I want to create a fantasy football website but I am useless at coding and inexperienced in web design. Can anybody recommend where I can get my website created and if anyone has experience of elance or rentacoder then please discuss.

Thanks

bobble_hat

Just PM'd you. Might be useful.

steve1980

If you look at peoples previous posts on here then it's not hard to work out who is a web designer.

paddyrg

This is nopt just a design problem as the OP has indicated, but a bit of custom code development. OP - do you have 5-figures worth of cash to spend on this? Any good custom development will cost you this once you factor in management interfaces, reporting, security, cash handling, account management, scalability, etc. Anyone who quotes you less than 5 figures has underestimated the issue. Sure, you will get some fresh student say 'I'll do it for £200' - you will get what you pay for, it will be crap.

Try looking at off-the-shelf products

http://fantasysportscripts.com/prods.php?pid=2
http://offl.sourceforge.net/
http://www.freefantasyfootball.tv/

Or write to another FF site asking if you can license their code/run a whitelabel service?

moneymultiplier1990

I would happily pay thousands if it can be created to my specifications. I just want to know who I can contact. Are there companies that have the ability to create waht I want from scratch? If so, where?

steve1980

Have you done a search on Google?

stephenni1971

Don't be afraid to source outside the UK.

I wanted a custom site built a in 2009 and though a webite I found which links clients to freelancers actuall had an Indian guy based in Dubai do it for me.

WE were able to use Skype for calls, he was always available and did a really good job - for a fraction of what a UK operation wanted.

Most freelance introducer sites have a feedback section so you can get an idea of who you are dealing with before handing over any money.

We split the job into 5 sections and I paid each one at a time as it was completed.

moneymultiplier1990

steve1980 wrote: »

Have you done a search on Google?

Yes of course, but Google can only tell you so much. I am open to outsourcing but I would really like to have it made by a UK based company that I can check the progress on site. I know it would cost more that way but I would rather pay extra to get exactly what I want.

Kaybenson

moneymultiplier1990 wrote: »

Yes of course, but Google can only tell you so much. I am open to outsourcing but I would really like to have it made by a UK based company that I can check the progress on site. I know it would cost more that way but I would rather pay extra to get exactly what I want.

For something of this nature, you can always get quality ones from 3rd world countries(Indian Folks are very good!)at a very affordable price. They are always available to work according to specification(s).

There's no guarantee that a UK based one will do better.

paddyrg

Honestly, managing a complex development job does require a lot of face-to-face meetings, demos, same-timezone decisions, etc. At the VERY LEAST have a UK-based programme manager to manage the offshoring for you. Also be aware it is nowhere near as cheap as it appears on paper as a headline - it's not that the skills aren't available offshore, it's that the overheads are surprisingly high. Put it like this, when I worked for (VERY BIG SOFTWARE COMPANY), we offshored, then re-ONshored as it worked out better value all told. Ans ours was a world-class company.

There are many independent software development houses, try someone like Thoughtworks who are very good. But be aware I said 5-figures, not 4. Software development is not to be underestimated, it is not just typing code in a tool, but the whole end-to-end software development lifecycle all the way from the initial business rule definition through functional and tech specs beforehand, development of test plans, coding, unit test, functional testing, user acceptance criteria, etc., is a serious job. It used to be my career, I made a lot of money at it, but it is a specialised/specialist job!

As I said, if you can use or adapt something off the shelf (where some other poor sap has spanked the cash and done all the testing) you can save thousands of pounds.

InsideInsurance

Have used the freelancing sites both as a client (not for web development) and as a provider. There are certainly some on there that are very good and can give you a good rate. There are a lot more that aren't very good. Feedback can give an indication but remember that feedback is typically given a few days after the project is completed where as realistically you need a good few months.

I am not personally a very technical person but manage programmes of work that have delivered very large technical solutions. You certainly can get something that looks great and seems to function OK when you've just got 5 or so people testing it simultaneously but then falls apart when either you have 100 concurrent users or when an end of month batch job is done.

If you are going to offshore then remember to consider the differences in culture between here and wherever it is your people come from. In India it is very rare to hear someone say they cannot do something as culturally they're against admitting they cant do something and would rather say yes and then botch together a solution than simply say no.

I wouldn't necessarily agree that offshoring isn't cheaper but I would agree that you need to remember all projects are a balance between cost, quality and time and when you adjust one the other two almost always moves. My last experience where it was decided to onshore the project from the offshore provider was not because it was going to cost more (it was still cheaper but not as much as the estimates indicated because of the increased amount of UK reviewing, testing and governance required) but because the project was time sensitive and offshoring was going to considerably increase timescales.

There are hundreds of good developers in the UK and outside it. Google will help you find some but your possibly better off taking recommendations from people who's opinion you trust but again with a pinch of salt as I have seen some sites people said were great but under the bonnet they were a real dogs dinner.