[consulting] Cleaning Up After Bad Developers

[Brian Vuyk]

Sam,

I agree with most of what you said. However, where I see the problems is 
when the newbie developer takes on a job considerably above his skill 
level. It happens, and it's not always intentional - developer may not 
even recognize that a job is over his head until he is in the middle of it.

Brian

Sam Cohen wrote:
> It seems to me there is room for different levels of expertise here.  
> There are many small nonprofits and businesses that don't have the 
> $100 to  $150 an hour for a developers. 
>
> Let's keep in mind, there are a lot of great sites out their that 
> didn't use a developer at all. 
>
> Many folks without a budget try doing it themselves, but get stuck.  
> So they hire a newbie, someone who know a bit more than them to help 
> them out.  Yes, that person might not do things the right way, but if 
> they did, they wouldn't be an inexpensive developer.
>
> As long as the developer working on the site doesn't claim to have 
> expertise he doesn't have and isn't charging $125 an hour for $30 an 
> hour work, I think there's room for those type of folks -- with simple 
> sites with minor customization.
>
> When I client comes to me, I'm very open about that.  I tell them they 
> can find people cheaper than me and they can also find people more 
> expensive -- and there are pros and cons with any choice. 
>
> Those building a site need to do their homework.  If they're paying 
> $25 an hour for a developer and others are charging 5 times that, they 
> need to realize there are things they aren't getting.
>
> But I do think what Drupal is lacking is not accreditation, but an 
> easy way for those who do try and customize Drupal to quickly 
> familiarize themselves with the best practices for doing so. 
>
> The best I've found is the book Drupal Pro Development, highly 
> recommended to any new developer. 
>
> Sam
>
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> . 
>
> On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 9:38 AM, William Smith 
> <william.darren at gmail.com <mailto:william.darren at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     In addition to this, I often encounter the opposite as well - 'value'
>     programmers (usually general PHP coders with limited Drupal
>     experience) who made a mess of a site by not knowing how to do things
>     the Drupal way.   Javascript included in all manner of creative ways
>     and without making use of jQuery where it would be sensible to do so,
>     modules hacked and re-hacked where there were simple theme overrides
>     or custom module solutions, etc.., etc..
>
>     It drives me absolutely crazy when a client (who would initially
>     probably have thought me expensive) has been lead to be believe that
>     they are getting a 'good deal', only to have to pay someone else (at
>     that 'expensive' rate) to come in and fix all the problems the cheap
>     developer has left in their wake.  (Usually right before they bail on
>     the project because they are in over their head).
>
>     I've never used oDesk to find work, but I did join up in order to take
>     the Drupal qualifications test that they have for a spin.  I'm
>     generally in favor of this sort of thing at this point.  Too many
>     people knowing just enough about Drupal to make a real mess for the
>     people who've hired them.
>
>     On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Steve Kessler
>     <skessler at denverdataman.com <mailto:skessler at denverdataman.com>>
>     wrote:
>     > I am working on a couple sites right now where there has been poor
>     > development by other developers, egregious pricing, lack of
>     communication
>     > and poor service because the sites were too small for these shops.
>     >
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