[consulting] Drupal web design as hobby - shall I start consulting?

[Kevin Davison]

I agree with Nancy and Larry. But each client is different, and the requirements are rarely the same from client-to-client. So that last 20% is not the same last 20% each time. You have to be flexible, learn something new each time, and hopefully what you learn before can be applied to the next project. And don't hesitate to ask for help.

And there aren't many "wrong ways" to develop something, since it may be fine to use CSS to arrange everything if you choose. Perhaps time and budget are factors. But you may be able to design/develop similarly with Panels, a different sub-theme, a theme of your own, Display Suite, Views, or a hundred different TPL files if you want. Don't hack core OR a base theme (dealing with a hacked Zen now w/ an inherited project).

My point (or advice) is to consider the best practices first, and then use a method you know best. You will realize some faster way to do the same thing differently next time. Like the first time you're introduced to Views and template files. Or hook_form_alter.

Kevin

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On Aug 15, 2010, at 13:34 PM, nan wich wrote:

> Larry is quite right in this. But I'd like to point out that for many sites, half of that "other 20%" is also not difficult - it's getting the CSS right. I have many amazed customers who "only want a little code written" who get what they want from just tweaking the CSS. I am frequently asked "Do I need to know PHP?" and "Do I need to know HTML?" Well, I know consultants who don't know PHP at all (and a few who deny it). If you really want to learn those things, I suggest, in this order: 1) CSS, 2) PhpMyAdmin, 3) HTML, 4) cPanel, 5) PHP. And the last one really depends on how "dirty" you want your hands to get.
>  
> Nancy 
> 
> Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -- Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.
> 
> 
> 
> From: Larry Garfield
> 
> Download a couple of modules, built some node types with CCK, configure a 
> couple of views, throw a downloaded free theme on top of them... click-click-
> click-click...
> 
> Mind you, the ability to "click together" 80% of what you need is what makes 
> Drupal such a great platform.  You can even get some really amazing 
> functionality that way without writing any code, just making clever use of 
> existing modules.  That last 20%, however, is what separates a "looks like 
> Drupal" site from a finely tuned, custom-themed, customized solution.  It's 
> also where most of the time, effort, and money goes in a project.
> 
> Now, many many sites don't need that last 20%, or they may think they do but 
> really don't.  Part of a consultant's job is to help a client figure out which 
> of that 20% they really need, and which they can afford.
> 
> A consultant's job is to make the client happy in the end, not to give the 
> client what they say they want.  That's a very subtle but important 
> distinction. :-)
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