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

[Sam Cohen]

While I think you can be a Drupal consultant without knowing PHP, if you
don't know it, you should definitely have a working relationship with
someone who does know php and someone who understands how to write a custom
module, use Drupal hooks, theme overrides and you should be able to bring
that person in as needed. ( It's probably also a really good idea to have a
working relationship with a jquery/javascript person too. )

Without such a person, you're going to have to tell clients "Drupal can't do
that" or if you're honest "I don't have the skills to make Drupal do that."


If you have a relationship with a developer/coder, you can at least tell
your clients  "I'll get you an estimate on that" and then sub-out parts of
the job to the developer.

Sam



On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Kevin Davison <kevin at quevin.com> wrote:

> 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
>
> ---
>
> Quevin, LLC
>  Quevin.com
>  twitter.com/Quevin
>  linkedin.com/in/quevin
>
> 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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-- 
http://samcohen.com
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