How many strings to your bow?
"A carpenter can paint a picture. A farmer can cobble a pair of shoes. But the wise man lets a plumber fit his boiler."
- Chinese Proverb
Tools of the trade
The web plumber uses Open Source components. Open Source software is software written by individuals or by communities of people on the understanding that that software can be used for free. Of course, zero cost is an appealing proposition when you want to keep your development costs down, but it's not the only advantage: the components we use are well known and well proven and that gives you freedom of choice.
Just because it's free, doesn't make it cheap. Examples of Open Source software include the Apache web server, used by over half the internet's websites. Joomla! is the web's most popular open source content management system. Zen Cart is the market leader in shopping cart applications. These are robust, reliable applications with a proven track record and massive user populations. They are just some of the tools in the web plumber's toolbox.
Hosting your web site is a 24/7 commitment. Because the web plumber doesn't provide a web hosting service, you are free to choose a service provider who can give you the infrastructure that is right for you - matched to your needs for the size of your web site, the number of visitors you expect and the bandwidth they'll be consuming. It's an important choice and one that the web plumber can help you with.
The shape of a job
There's no such thing as a typical job - but if there was, this is how it might look...
Callout - meet the customer
I like to start by coming to see you. To get a feel for your business and to talk through what I can do to help you. We'll agree the objectives and the scope of the project, how we'll tackle it and what we'll need. We can take this to as much or as little detail as you're ready for.
Spec - the project plan
I prepare a bullet-point list of every task the job needs and who is going to take them on. This is the blueprint for the job and encapsulates everything we discussed in the first callout. There'll be an estimate of how long the job will take - and how much it will cost. So far, you haven't spent a penny.
Building the site
Once you're happy with the spec, I set to work. I fit the different components together and give it all a little polish. You can watch the progress as I work. It doesn't take as long as you'd think!
Implementation
There's lots to do when it's time to go live. Check that all the information is correct, test the payment systems and make sure you're comfortable with how to work the site once we've gone.
Support
And of course, if you don't want me to go, I can always be there for you. Whether it's day-to-day housekeeping or rolling out new ideas and new functionality, the web plumber is only an email away.
